German words expats should know: Genau

“Genau”. It’s here, it’s there, it’s everywhere, an essential German word that any learner should quickly adopt into their vocabulary. So what does it mean?

Genau: What exactly does it mean?

“Genau” simply means “exactly” or “precisely”, and German speakers love it! They can’t get enough of it. Your friend might ask you, “Wollen wir uns beim Schwimmbad treffen?” ("Shall we meet at the swimming pool?") and you can say, “Genau” (as in, “Yes, we shall”).

Your lover might be enthusiastically explaining to you why they can’t stand films by Werner Herzog, you remember how insufferable he seemed in Burden of Dreams, and say, “Ja genau, und er kam nicht so angenehm vor” (“Yeah exactly, and he didn’t seem so pleasant”).

Your neighbour might be reminding you not to hoover at 11pm in case you disturb his sleep again and say, “Genau deswegen haben wir Ruhezeit” (“We have Ruhezeit for exactly that reason”).

Is Germany a country of conformists? We don’t know, but direct communication, clear rules, obeying them, and telling others off for breaking them are all popular. For this reason, genaus are flying all over the place. Jump on the bandwagon!

Genau’s variations: Ganz genau, ja genau, genau so

Genau also has its variations. So what does genau mean when it’s not exactly genau, but something similar? There’s “ganz genau” (“completely agree”), for when you’re in super agreement. There’s also the milder but still agreeable, “ja, genau” (“yeah, exactly”).

Then there’s "Genau so", which is slightly different. “Genau so” is the equivalent of “Exactly like this” or “Exactly like that”, for example, “Genau so hat er geantwortet!” (“He answered exactly like that!”).

How to say “genau”, but not exactly that

Over the past few years, genau has become a bit of a meme, a go-to example of a word that people who are just beginning to learn German might use if they have limited ways to express themselves. 

So if you’re looking to kick genau that habit, what alternatives can you use? There are many words which can be used in exactly the same way; “Stimmt” (agreed), “Absolut” (absolutely), “Richtig” (right/correct), “Das ist korrekt” (that is correct), “Klar” (all clear) and “So ist es” (I’ll say).